Over the years there have been many a gimmick to get people exercising. One need only flip the channels at three in the morning to see celebrities touting a variety of pieces of equipment designed to flatten tummies and build muscles.
Much less expensive, the
Wii Fit enters the picture. It consists of a board much like the aerobic step-boards seen on the market, plus a disc. I can't really call it a game disc as it's more like a cross between a game and an instructional DVD.
The
Wii Fit is compatible with the
Nintendo Wii Game Console. It works with the "Miis" we created back when we first purchased the console and has each person with their own identity go through a variety of games and exercises designed to give anything from a very light to a strenuous workout.
We brought it home and set it up. This was fairly easy to do. The balance board that comes with the
Wii Fit is wireless and battery operated, so it was a matter of installing the batteries and synchronizing it with the
Nintendo Wii Game Console. Once that was done we loaded the disc and away we went. One thing to note is that if you do this on a carpet, there are adapters which might have to be added to the feet on the bottom of the board depending on the depth of your carpet. Our carpet didn't need these.
After choosing my Mii, the first thing it wants to do is a body test. Now, I already know I'm a rather "fluffy" person, so I was prepared for what came next. Other people in denial might not like the rather blatant way it tells you that you are fat. Yes, it calculates BMI and can show you your weight. I haven't found that the measurements are terribly accurate. It can vary greatly from day to day - as much as three pounds when my bathroom scale isn't showing any difference. I have told the kids not to look at what it shows here as an accurate representation, but to look at the average over time for guidance. In the case of me and others in the house who have chosen to try to work on our weight and body right now, if we see the weight and BMI getting better overall, that is good and we don't fret the day to day ups and downs that might take place. I also think that if you use the board on a carpet that can have an effect on it as opposed to using it on a hard floor.
One the
Wii Fit has measured weight and BMI, it performs a
Balance Test. It chooses different activities each time, and this can change the results of the test. There are some of the activities in the
Balance Test I can perform, no problem. There are others which I just don't seem to have the coordination to get them to work the way they should. I can't really blame the
Wii Fit for it as my kids have no trouble making those activities work as they should, but I seem to have a mental block or something that I just don't get it.
At the end of the
Balance Test comes the unveiling of the
Wii Fit Age. I have varied greatly, from all the way up in my fifties to down in my thirties. This is why I don't put much credence in it as when I don't do well on whatever the activities are on the
Balance Test. I look at the average over time, and after a few weeks of using it, it seems like the age it arrives at has stabilized.
These tests should be done every day, but they can be skipped. They do take some time to accomplish and might cut into workout time if you're trying to squeeze some time in. Up until now, the interaction on the screen has been between myself and a talking version of the balance board. When it's time for the workout, it switches to a personal trainer. The trainer can be male or female. I prefer the male as I found the female's voice to be a bit annoying.
The activities for working out are divided into categories. There's
Yoga,
Strength Training,
Aerobics, and
Balance Games. These each start out with five or six basic moves or games. As you work out each day you earn "credits". Once a certain amount of credits is reached, other moves or games is unlocked.
I like doing the
Yoga. It starts with simple poses such as deep breathing, half moon, warrior, tree, and sun salutation. Other poses are added as time goes on, until I'm at the point now where I can spend a half hour or more just doing yoga poses. I like it as it's relaxing while stretching my body, and using this has actually encouraged me to see out other yoga DVDs and get more into the activity.
The
Strength Training is the sequence that feels the most like a traditional workout. It consists of activities such as the single leg extension, pushups and side-planks, torso twist, jackknife, and lunge. These seem to move a little fast, at least to me as a beginner, and I wish there was a way to slow the workout down a bit. I don't mind that as time progresses, it unlocks more levels and ups the sequence from three reps to six reps to ten reps, but I wish it could go slower.
The last two categories are the ones my kids have taken to best of all. In
Aerobics there are easy activities such as jogging and the free run (all of this is in-place) that my eight year old son on the autism spectrum has gravitated to. I have tried using the free run while on the treadmill (which is also located in the den, we just had to move it a bit), and it does work, so I get double the number of readings. My thirteen year old with a lot of rhythm likes the step aerobics. I've tried them and I can keep it going for a while but have found that once I'm off-pace it's hard to get back on. The hula hoop and super hula hoop look like a lot of fun, but again it's something that my kids seem to be able to do better than me. I just can't get the moves right to make it work the way it's supposed to. Perhaps in time…
Finally, there's
Balance Games. You can head soccer balls, tilt tables to sink balls, slalom ski, ski jump, or many more. These are lots of fun games that improve coordination. These have been hit or miss for me. Some of them, like the ski jump, you have to do just a certain way to make it work and it can get frustrating. Others, like the table tilt, seem easy to get the feel for.
Every activity has a "score" of sorts. This is both good and bad. It's good because I get an idea of whether or not I am improving in the activity from day to day. It's bad because the kids tend to treat the
Wii Fit like it's a competition against each other. This leads to trying to get the best score, rather than trying to do the workouts as they are intended. I have had to lay down the law in that anyone who isn't using it the right way doesn't get their time on the
Wii Fit in the afternoon. With five kids and at least one adult vying for time on the
Wii Fit, we've had to institute a schedule for the time being.
The graphics are comparable to the other games for the
Nintendo Wii Game Console designed by Nintendo itself, like
Wii Sports and
Wii Play. They aren't terribly impressive, but there are lots of bright colors and it's fun to look at. The scenery in games like the jogging and free run aren't at all life-like, although there are nice effects such as giant wind turbines to look at as if one were jogging through the countryside.
I think the
Wii Fit has the potential to keep users coming back and exercising more than other things we've tried to get the family interested. The games are fun, and it's like a video game. Each family member can find their niche for what physical activities they like, and plan their own workout in the favorites category. The measurements aren't entirely accurate, but useful to find out whether your weight and BMI are improving or have deteriorated. It would be nice to be able to have two or three people workout together as well. Sometimes my son works out the same time as me and just doesn't bother with getting the readings from the
Wii Fit.
Wii Fit has been a hit with everyone in the house. It's a great way to encourage exercise for every age, and it really seems to resonate with the younger generation. Anything that makes them more interested in physical activity is a plus, and so far this has been perfect in that regard. It's well worth the $90 I paid for it at Wal-Mart.
© 2008 Patti Aliventi
